December 15, 2008 12:33 am
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By Anvil Welch
awelch@joplinglobe.com
There was little that Joplin coach Ben Glasgow didn’t appreciate about the performance of his team on Saturday.
Joplin evened its record at 3-3 by beating Springdale Har-Ber 63-53 for fifth place in the 12th annual Freeman /Lady Eagle Classic in Kaminsky Gymnasium.
“It was sure good to do it in front of the home crowd, too,” Glasgow said Sunday.
There was no doubt about the numbers that Glasgow found most appealing.
“We had three turnovers in the first half and seven for the game,” Glasgow said. “We were much more under control.
“We also made our own breaks as opposed to getting some breaks,” Glasgow said. “We showed some mental toughness. We played eight people on Saturday. All eight made a contribution.”
Joplin received 24 points from 5-foot-10 senior Jessica Hill, 16 from 5-6 junior May Lee and 13 from 5-7 sophomore Jessie McMullen.
Said Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright: “That No. 30 (Hill) played a great game. No. 40 (Lee) played well.
“We’re having our struggles. We’ve been so inconsistent,” Wright said. “But Joplin played well.”
Joplin trailed the Wildcats 16-9 after one quarter and 28-25 at the half.
Hill grabbed a rebound and scored to put surging Joplin ahead for good at 30-28 in the third. McMullen rifled in a 3 before her layup gave Joplin its first six-point lead at 35-29. Lee’s follow garnered Joplin its first eight-point lead at 41-33.
Joplin, facing its fifth game in seven days, journeys to Rogers Heritage tonight before entertaining Webb City, the Freeman/Lady Eagle Classic champion by nipping Neosho 63-61, on Thursday night.
That seventh-place game
Rachel Boan, fittingly, sparked Blue Valley West past Harrison 70-42.
Boan, a 5-8 junior, scored 18 points. She’s the only returning starter for the Kansas Class 6A team from Overland Park.
The Jaguars have just one senior, according to coach Rich Wilson.
Miller: mission accomplished
The Class 2 Cardinals’ 65-63 win against Marshfield secured third place and allowed them to depart with a 2-2 overall record.
“It’s a good victory,” Miller coach Brandon Weiss said. “We accomplished what we wanted to do (coming out of the tourney at 2-2). We can’t be satisfied, though.”
Katrina Logan, who had two 3s, scored 15 and Sam Hendrickson 11 to support all-stater Hannah Wilkerson (21-of-22 from the foul line en route to 36).
Wilkerson, who had 90 points in the tourney, took Betsy Epps’ inbounds pass and scored underneath as time expired to win the contest.
Defending champion Marshfield was without 6-0 junior standout Ashley Boshe, because of a season-ending ACL injury, coach Gary Murphy said.
Circle this date
Jan. 12.
That’s when Neosho visits Webb City for their Central Ozark Conference Large Division game.
They split their Southwest Conference games in 2007-08.
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